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Diane Abbott’s proposal to close Yarl’s Wood and Brook House and end outsourcing in immigration detention provision is a welcome step forward in Labour Party policy. The announcement comes following a massprotest in Yarl’s Wood and aPanorama documentary that included undercover footage of appalling conditions in detention and abuse inflicted on detainees.

Although Yarl’s Wood and Brook House have become lightning-rods for immigration detention controversy, they differ little from other detention centres. 43 people have died in immigration detention since it started, including 4 people inMorton Hall (Lincolnshire) in 2017 alone. Colnbrook near Heathrow has one of theharshest regimes within the detention estate where people are locked in cells from 9pm to 8am. Harmondsworth, also near Heathrow, is the biggest detention centre in Europe and was the site of mass protests in2014 and2015, and there have been similar protests inCampsfield and Dungavel.

The problem cannot be associated with individual places of detention. It lies with a policy that gives the Home Office licence to lock people up based on their nationality, and a society that turns a blind eye to the inevitable violence dealt out on working class people of colour in any system designed for mass deportation.

Closing down Yarl’s Wood and Brook House would be an important step but it must be done within a wider policy that takes detention out of the immigration system altogether.

Yarl’s Wood detainees end hunger strike after one month; but Hunger for Freedom protests continue

People detained at Yarl’s Wood started a series of hunger strikes, work strikes and occupations on Wednesday 21st February

On Wednesday 21st March, strikers have announced they are ending their hunger strike but will continue Hunger for Freedom protests and refuse to participate in their detention

Demonstrations are taking place in cities across the UK in a National Day of Action in solidarity with the strikers.

Immigration detainees at Yarl’s Wood have been staging hunger strikes, work strikes and a series of occupations inside the building since Wednesday 21st February. They are calling for an end to indefinite detention, an end to mass deportations by charter flight, and an end to mistreatment at the detention centre. A full list of strikers’ demands is published on the Detained Voices website [1].

In a statement this morning [2], the strikers in Yarl’s Wood have announced an end to the hunger strike, but a continuation of Hunger for Freedom protests. The strikers’ emphasise; “We are still hungry for our freedom and justice. We will continue to fight for our human rights and will not participate in our own detention” [2] . The strikers will continue to organise internally and fight for their demands.

The statement outlines that many of the original group of strikers are no longer at Yarl’s Wood, having been deported or released back into the community. Strikers emphasise that; “this action only highlights the reasons we were driven to take such drastic measures, as the Home Office, rather than being concerned with our welfare […] instead capitalised on our weakened state.” [2]

Campaigners in London will demonstrate outside the Home Office on Marsham Street from 4.30pm [3]. The demonstration will feature a live telephone link-up with Yarl’s Wood hunger strikers over a PA system. Demonstrators include SOAS Detainee Support, London Latinxs, and the All African Women’s Group, many of whom have formerly been detained in Yarl’s Wood and continue to face the asylum system.

Yesterday, members of the Home Affairs Select Committee questioned Serco on the demands of the hunger strikers, but the Home Office are yet to respond. Members of Parliament including Diane Abbott, David Lammy, Ruth Smeeth, Jess Phillips, Yvette Cooper and Stuart McDonald have spoken in Parliament during the hunger strike about their concerns regarding the use of immigration detention. Stuart McDonald of the Home Affairs Select Committee, met with strikers on 16/03/18 and expressed solidarity with their cause [4]. In a debate in the House of Commons with other MPs about the strikes and state of immigration detention in the UK, McDonald emphasised, “it is time for a radical reform of detention in the UK” [5].

The strikers call on everyone to show their solidarity and support;

“We must all fight together to stop this spiral into division, intolerance and the disintegration of liberty, for liberty is easily lost but very hard earned as history proves over and over.” [2]

NOTES

Yarl’s Wood is an Immigration Removal Centre in Bedford operated by the private company Serco on behalf of the Home Office. The centre has capacity for up to 410 detainees. It is the UK’s only detention centre that primarily holds women.

Around 30,000 people are detained in immigration detention centres each year in the UK. The UK is the only country in Europe with no specified legal time limit for detention. Many detainees are held for months or years with no release date. Detainees and campaigners argue detention is harmful and unnecessary.

Like this:

Three weeks ago today, 120 people in a detention centre in Bedfordshire (which holds mainly but not only women) started a hunger strike. It gathered momentum and has escalated into an all-out strike: work strikes, occupations, and a refusal to co-operate with the mechanisms of detention from the inside.

People inside continue to strike to demand that their voices are heard. The strikers’ latest testimony on the Detained Voices website, released today, calls for a meeting with the Home Affairs Select Committee. This Committee are due to meet with private security company Serco, who run Yarl’s Wood, next week.

How can you continue to support the protests and stand in solidarity with the hunger strikers?

Sign the Petition – calling on the Home Office to grant the demands of Yarl’s Wood strikers

Send a letter to your MP outlining what the strikers are calling for. Use this template, use the Write to Them website

Tweet Solidarity photos – tweet, retweet and share photos holding signs of support for Yarl’s Wood strikers, and share using hashtag #HungerForFreedom. Amplify the voices of the strikers by retweeting their accounts from @detainedvoices

Support the strikers call on the Home Affairs Select Committee to meet with the strikers before they question Serco on Tuesday 20 March, and to question the Home Office and Immigration Minister by contacting the committee to let them know the strikers demands. On Tuesday 20th March 2018, the Home Affairs Select Committee are meeting to discuss Serco’s contract with the Home Office. The Yarl’s Wood Strikers are requesting a meeting with Yvette Cooper, Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, as well as any other members of the Committee as possible. The hunger strike is now into its third week. Over the weekend, a number of strikers were deported despite attempts to prevent this. It is imperative that the strikers are involved in the Committee’s decision as to whether Serco should retain its contract with the Home Office, particularly in light of the alleged abuses detainees have faced at the hands of Serco employees. We are asking you to contact Yvette Cooper, Stephen Shaw and their teams to request that they meet with the strikers before the Committee makes a decision on this important matter. [Full contact list and templates below]

——-Email templateTo [Yvette Cooper/Stephen Shaw/etc],I am contacting you as a concerned member of the public who has been following the Yarl’s Wood hunger strike. There are 120 women and men who are on hunger and work strike demanding significant, wide-reaching and reasonable changes to the detention policy. The demands of the strikers can be read here: [https://detainedvoices.com/2018/02/25/the-strikers-demands/]The strikers have requested a meeting with yourself and the rest of the Home Affairs Select Decision before your meeting on Tuesday 20th March 2018 to discuss Serco’s contract with the Home Office. The strikers’ request can be read here: [https://detainedvoices.com/2018/03/14/we-the-yarls-wood-strikers-would-like-to-meet-with-yvette-cooper-chair-of-the-home-affairs-select-committee/]I am imploring you to follow up on this request and arrange a meeting with the Yarl’s Wood hunger strikers before you meet with Serco. Please discuss the strikers’ demands, the UK’s detention policy and Serco’s role in it, and the conditions in detention centres across the UK. Please, allow their voices to be heard as they are vital in any assessment of Serco’s role in the immigration detention system.Yours sincerely, [Name]

Break the silence:

Like this:

On Wednesday 21st February, 120 people in an immigration detention centre in Bedfordshire (which holds mainly but not only women) started a hunger strike. It gathered momentum and has escalated into an all-out strike: work strikes, occupations, and a refusal to co-operate with the mechanisms of detention from the inside.

“After an initial 3 day hunger strike where the Home Office refused to acknowledge the hunger strike, it is clear that they are not listening to us. On Monday 26/02/18, we will cease to participate in detention, we will not eat, use their facilities or work for them.”

The hunger strikers are being met with victimisation and threats from the Home Office. Publicly, the Home Office has issued an official denial that hunger strikes are taking place; privately, they have issued strikers with letters threatening to ‘accelerate’ removal because of their actions. Full statements and documents can be read onDetained Voices.

How can you support the protests and stand in solidarity with the hunger strikers?

Sign the Petition – calling on the Home Office to grant the demands of Yarl’s Wood strikers

Send a letter to your MP outlining what the strikers are calling for. Use this template, use the Write to Them website

Tweet Solidarity photos – tweet, retweet and share photos holding signs of support for Yarl’s Wood strikers, and share using hashtag #HungerForFreedom. Amplify the voices of the strikers by retweeting their accounts from @detainedvoices

Break the silence:

Like this:

On Wednesday 21st of February a large group of women and men held in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Detention Centre began a coordinated 3-day hunger strike. The demands have been posted on the Detained Voices website.

They include:

Amnesty for those who have lived in the UK 10 years and above

End indefinite detention – Detention periods shouldn’t be longer than 28 days

End Charter flights – Charter flights are inhumane because there are no prior notifications, or only an oral notification with no warning. They give no time to make arrangements with family.

No more re-detention – Redention should not be allowed – if you have been detained once, you should not be re-detained if you are complying with the laws they have applied. This is a contradiction, you are being punished for complying with the law; it ruins the whole purpose of expecting compliance

“After an initial 3 day hunger strike where the Home Office refused to acknowledge the hunger strike, it is clear that they are not listening to us. On Monday 26/02/18, we will cease to participate in detention, we will not eat, use their facilities or work for them.”

Here are a number of ways those of us on the outside can support the protests:

Sign the Petition – calling on the Home Office to grant the demands of Yarl’s Wood strikers.

Send a letter to you MP outlining what the strikers are calling for. Use this template, use the Write to Them website.

Organised by KCL Action Palestine and Demilitarise KingsWhat are the connections between the detention and deportations of asylum-seekers in the UK and the administrative detention of Palestinians under settler-colonialism? In what ways is the Israeli military judicial system and the UK Immigration & Asylum system predicated on racial and colonial violence? Which are the companies profiteering from and demanding incarcerated bodies, both in Palestine and in the UK?

Join us for a night of discussions & education on why it’s crucial that alongside BDS and the call to end Israeli apartheid we need to focus on local campaigns that fight to end detention, stop deportations & strive for freedom of movement for all.